


king and lionheart

by strawberrycreamcheese



Series: Merthur Fics and AUs [2]
Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/F, Flirting, Fluff, Gay, Jealous Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Jock Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), M/M, Merthur - Freeform, Modern Era, Mutual Pining, No Smut, Not Beta Read, Oblivious Merlin (Merlin), Parties, Pining, gwaine flirts with merlin but its merthur endgame, rugby team "the knights", the knights play rugby
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-04
Updated: 2020-11-04
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:08:13
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27289165
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrycreamcheese/pseuds/strawberrycreamcheese
Summary: Highschool AUAfter moving from his small hometown Ealdor, 17 year old Merlin must settle into his new home in Camelot and attempt to struggle his way through his last year of high school. But only a week in at Avalon High, he catches the attention of cocky jock Arthur Pendragon, and some of his friends. Despite his best efforts, Merlin can't help but become enamoured with Arthur, and must attempt to decipher his feelings, all the while not realizing Arthur feels the same about him.
Relationships: Gwaine & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen & Merlin (Merlin), Gwen & Morgana (Merlin), Gwen/Morgana (Merlin), Merlin & Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Merlin & Morgana (Merlin), Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)
Series: Merthur Fics and AUs [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2000911
Comments: 7
Kudos: 136





	king and lionheart

**Author's Note:**

> wow im shit at summaries. n/e ways, title is from an of monsters and men song (i found the song in a merthur playlist if anyones interested... and thought might as well use it for this story, whether it fits or not. it might be changed later). n/e ways, this is the first of merthur stories/one-shots i'm creating. this is gonna start as a one-shot, but honestly i think i might continue it into a series/collection depending on how much i end up liking it and the feedback it receives. i've recently become a little obsessed with lgbt high school AUs so... maybe i am just feeding my own obsession. some notes for myself & others  
> -tags might be updated and changed.  
> -there isn't really any background developed much for why merlin moves from ealdor to camelot for this, so uh, you can just come up with something i suppose.  
> -i'm just using how my high school worked here, so if it's innacurate to how it is in the UK or wherever, that is why.  
> -i jumped around and didn't write each part consecutively, so if there are some errors that's probably why. i am far too lazy to read through this rn :(  
> -might update tags later

Gazing out the window of Gaius' car, Merlin twiddled with his thumbs. It was his first day at a new school, just a week after moving from his small hometown to live with his uncle. Gaius has thought it seemed awfully quick to go back to school, especially as he had barely settled in, but Merlin just wanted to get it over with.

His uncle glanced at him. 

"Excited?" He asked, nudging Merlin with his elbow.

Merlin grimaced at him but managed an, "I suppose." Living with Gaius was nice so far, but he vaguely missed his mother, as well everyone else he had left behind.

His thoughts became a bit more jumbled once the rickety old car rumbled up a hill to reveal the grand Avalon High. It was a large building, far bigger than the school he attended before. What seemed to be three stories towered above the land, and that was just the main building. Smaller, separate parts of the school were scattered across the land, and a wide courtyard stretched in front. 

Throughout the courtyard ran multiple picnic tables, and huge trees were scattered along the property, effectively casting dark shadows in the light of the blinding golden sun.  
  
Despite Merlin's efforts at arriving early, plenty of students were already milling the grounds and coming in and out of the front doors. It seemed everyone was anxious to get the first day over with.   
  
Gaius pulled up as close as he could get and rolled to a stop. Merlin braced himself and sighed. Before he could open the door, Gaius' hand clapped down onto his shoulder.

"Remember, I have this now," he paused, wiggling a cellphone in the air, "so call me if you need anything."

Merlin grinned a bit. Although he adamantly used a landline most of his life, Gaius gave in to buying a cellphone once he learned Merlin would be coming to stay with him. 

He slammed the door shut with an extra goodbye to Gaius, and began the walk to the front doors. Despite being outside, he had to shove through dense crowds of students to reach the front door. 

As he did, he managed to run directly into another student. One who was unfortunately holding a scalding hot coffee. He winced as her drink spilled onto his shirt, and she sharply glared at him, as if it was _his_ fault, before collecting herself and storming away. He sighed. Less than five minutes in and he practically already made an enemy.

It was going to be a long first day.

* * *

Fifteen minutes later, and a quick trip to the nearest bathroom to dab off his shirt, Merlin found himself at the office. Despite the map he received beforehand, navigating around the school grounds was near impossible. It was absolutely _massive_ , twisting hallways with smaller hallways branching off were all over the school. It was like the building was supposed to be a maze for new students.

He introduced himself to the secretary at the desk, and she slid a schedule over to him.

"Looks like your first class is math. The room number is here," she pointed to a short string of digits on the paper, "and the math wing is upstairs. Have a good first day!"

He gave her an awkward _thank you_ , before making his way out of the office doors. So far, so good. Now he just had to make it through the rest of the day... and then the rest of the year. 

Merlin had to shove his way through what seemed like hundreds of other students just to reach the second floor. Once he found his class, he shuffled in. There were some students there already. Some were stood near the walls chatting, while a few others sat quietly at their desks. He quietly slid into a chair and resigned to sitting in silence until the class started.  
  
Soon enough, the room surrounding him was filled with other students, ranging from loud and excitable to tired and out of the way. Unfortunately, the bell rang faster than he would have liked, and a few moments later, someone slumped into the desk next to him. He jumped and glanced to his left. 

"Gwaine," the teacher shook her head, "you're late. Do you really want to start your year off like this?" The student, Gwaine, shrugged.

"Sorry, miss. I'm a busy man," he smirked. Merlin's brow furrowed as the other student looked at him and winked.

Before any words could be exchanged, the class moved on.

Merlin noticed Gwaine sneaking glances at him throughout the first half of the class and when the teacher announced that it was time for independent work, Merlin barely had time to collect himself before Gwaine full attention was on him.

"I haven't seen you around here before. You're new here, right? Name’s Gwaine,” he smirked, sticking out a hand broadly. Merlin gaped for a moment.

”Merlin,” he replied after a moment, reaching out to shake Gwaine’s hand. The other student was dressed in a red jersey on, one that Merlin had seen in movies before but never around his own school. It was far too underfunded and small for any team to have designated jerseys. He assumed there must’ve been a big white number plastered on the back as well. 

“Let me show you around a bit, yeah?” Gwaine said, shifting to put his arm casually behind the other student. Merlin blinked, silent, for a moment.

”I guess,” he replied, oblivious to the arm draped over the back of his chair. There was silence for a moment, before. Gwaine dove into describing the different buildings surrounding the property, tacking on some sarcastic comments about the teachers he liked and disliked. Merlin stayed silent, baffled at how this loud and extravagant person managed to shove his way into Merlin’s day without any prompting. By how casual the other was being, he hypothesized Gwaine did this a lot.

Merlin realized he zoned out when a silence replaced Gwaine’s voice. He looked up to see Gwaine expectantly staring at him. 

“Sorry, what?” Gwaine chuckled.

”I _said_ , why don’t you come have lunch with me and my friends?” He repeated, that same smirk still plastered onto his face. Before Merlin could reply, a girl's voice sounded from behind him.

”Leave the new kid alone, Gwaine,” she said, an amused lilt to her voice. Merlin turned to see her looking at them. She had light brown skin, and tight curls running throughout her shoulder-length hair. There was another girl, with long dark hair, sitting next to her, watching the interaction. 

“Shush, Gwen, I’m making a new friend!” Gwaine exclaimed, leaning a bit closer. Gwen scoffed and turned to the other girl, sharing an amused look with her, before turning back to Merlin.

”Don’t let him rope you in with his charm, he’s _actually_ horrible,” she said, pausing before adding, “I’m Gwen, by the way. This is Morgana,” she nodded to the girl next to her, “You can come spent lunch with _us_ , instead, if you want.” She leaned over to nudge Merlin with her elbow. 

He opened his mouth to reply but was once again interrupted. This time by the bell. He sighed and collected his stuff before Gwaine grabbed his elbow and started dragging him towards the door.

Gwen yelled in protest before Morgana placed a hand on her shoulder. “It’s too late for him now,” she shook her head in mock sadness as Gwen sighed.

Gwaine simply laughed and dragged Merlin out the door. 

* * *

Merlin let out a sigh of relief once Gwaine started walking in the opposite direction. He'd offered to walk Merlin to his class, and promised to come and pick him up for lunch. Merlin silently made plans to exit the classroom as quickly as possible, feeling less than thrilled at the thought of spending lunch with a table full of jocks.

His second class was english, and he spent the first few minutes getting himself set up and attempting to ease his nerves. He barely had time to in his first class, due to Gwaine. Thankfully _most_ things were moving fairly smoothly so far.

That was until a cluster of laughter sounded from the other side of the room. He glanced up, catching sight of a group of boys. One of them, in particular, was quite striking, with ruffled blonde hair sitting atop his head, and sparkling blue eyes as he grinned at who Merlin assumed were his friends. He gave a blinding white smile, with slightly crooked teeth that only added to his charm.

Merlin absentmindedly watched the other boy begin to cross the room, leaning his head casually on his hand. He hadn't realized he was staring so intently, until the blonde's eyes flicked over to him, connecting with his for a split second. Merlin jerked out of his stupor and attempted to look busy by examing the pen within his hand. He could tell his face was burning red in seconds.

After a few moments, he started to relax again, fiddling with the pen in his hand. He started to lean back in his chair when a loud bang followed by loud laughter filled the classroom. His head jerked towards the source of the noise. 

The blonde student was once again surrounded by his friends, although they were all circled around one desk in which another student sat. The student at the desk looked solemn. He was staring down at his things, ranging from his binders and books to his pens and pencils, which were splayed all over the floor. Once he reached down to pick up some of his things, the blonde student kicked his foot out, sending them across the floor before the other could grab them.

Merlin rolled his eyes. _Of course,_ the person he was admiring was an asshole. Merlin shook his head, standing up to retrieve a few pens that were flung his way. He picked them up, walking over to the boy's desk and placing them down. The blonde student paid no mind to him, once again kicking items across the floor with his friends. 

"That's enough," Merlin snapped, reaching down once again to retrieve the boy's binder. "You've had your fun." He glared at the blonde boy, who turned to look at him with a glower of his own. The other was quite broad, and the posse of other boys behind him would have intimidated anyone else, but Merlin stood his ground.

”Excuse me?” The other student questioned. He looked at Merlin with an incredulous expression, who could tell this idiot had never been stood up to in his life.

”I said that’s enough,” Merlin repeated, looking his opponent dead in the eyes.

"And who are you?" The blonde boy questioned. 

"Merlin," he replied, becoming a bit unsure. He expected a bit more immediate aggression. 

"You're new then, aren't you? Quite bold for a new kid," he said.

“At least I’m not a prat,” Merlin snarked. The other glanced at his friends behind him, keeping the same disbelieving look.

”You can’t talk to me like that,” he scoffed, “do you know who I am?” 

Merlin smirked. “I don’t think I’ve had the dishonour.” He stuck his hand out sarcastically. The other boy fumed, but before him and his friends could get any further, the bell rang. The teacher sauntered into the room, yelling at the boys to sit down. 

They retreated to their desks, but Merlin felt the other boys glare for the rest of the class.

He had a feeling it wasn’t the last he’d see of the other student.

* * *

 **“** Merlin! Over here!” Gwen waved her arms around, until Merlin’s head snapped in her and Morgana’s direction. He approached them, and as soon as he was in reach, Gwen snatched his arm and dragged him over to an almost empty lunch table. She sat him down, and sat across from him beside Morgana.

”We usually sit over there,” Morgana started, gesturing to a table full of other people, including Gwaine a group of boys who were wearing matching jerseys, “but Gwen thought you might appreciate a quiet lunch.” 

“The _last_ thing you need on your first day here is to be harassed by Arthur and the rest of the Knights,” Gwen rolled her eyes. 

“The Knights?” _Arthur?_

“They’re the rugby team here at Avalon. Probably the most funded thing in the entire school,” she explained. “Most _over_ funded thing at least.”

”Don’t listen to Gwen. The team aren’t too bad. Arthur is the worst, but even he has his good moments,” Morgana said, wrapping an arm around the other girl.

”You’re only saying that because you live with him,” she scoffed in reply, but her smile gave her away.

”Who’s Arthur?” Merlin questioned, attempting to catch back up with the conversation. 

Gwen sighed. “Arthur Pendragon. Team captain of the Knights. His father practically owns the school, which is why the team is so important. He thinks he’s the supreme leader of _everything_. Especially Avalon.” 

“Sounds like a prat,” Merlin stated bluntly.

Morgana laughed. “Like I said, he’s not _that_ bad. He just warms up to people slower.” 

The rest of their lunch was spent mostly quietly. Gwen prodded at Merlin a bit, questions like _where are you from?_ and _how has your day been?_

Despite the mildly rough start to his day, he was glad he’d found some nice people to hang out with. 

* * *

The next day, Merlin felt far more comfortable stepping foot into the school. He was still wracked with nerves at being a new kid, but knowing he had a couple, people watching his back made him feel a bit better. 

The second he stepped through the front doors, “ _Merlin!”_ sounded from across the atrium. He cringed as Gwaine ran up to him and grabbed his shoulders. 

“Hey, Gwaine,” he winced out. Gwaine grinned down at him. 

“ _Today_ , you are spending lunch with me. That’s final. Gwen and Morgana got to kidnap you yesterday, I get to kidnap you today,” he smirked, still gripping Merlin’s slim shoulders. 

Merlin sighed as he watched Gwaine walk away, who looked back at him and winked.

Gwaine had walked over to another boy in the Knight’s jersey, and started up a friendly conversation. When Merlin realized who it was, his expression fell immediately. He had to hold in a dramatic groan as he watched Gwaine laugh with the blonde boy from his english class the day before. 

Of _course_ , he was a jock. Of course. He’d hoped he wouldn’t have to interact with the prat again, but realized that he’d likely be at the lunch table with Gwaine.

And consequently with Merlin. 

* * *

Immediately after leaving his second class, Gwaine pounced. He seemed to have been waiting outside for the bell, and after Merlin asked about it, it appeared that was the case.

”The team had practice second period, I ditched a bit early,” Gwaine said. Merlin hummed, he’d vaguely realized the blonde student he’d butted heads with, _Arthur_ , hadn’t been in english class. 

Unfortunately, that just reminded Merlin that he was spending lunch with him and the rest of the Knights. He’d only hoped Gwen and Morgana would be there to help him if things went awry.

His hopes were confirmed as Gwaine led Merlin towards the lunch table, bustling with over a dozen teenage boys in matching red jerseys. Gwaine dumped his off as soon as he sat down, and pulled Merlin down with him. As soon as he sat down, he made direct eye contact with Arthur, who was across from him. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” The blonde questioned, looking between Merlin and Gwaine with an accusatory glare. Gwaine casually draped an arm over Merlin, gripping his shoulder lightly.

He smirked, “I invited him, Arthur. Thought it’d be nice to have a second pretty face around, next to mine of course.” Merlin stayed silent, preferring not to cause a scene at the table. 

Before Arthur could retaliate, Gwen and Morgana approached.

”Ah, I see you’ve met Arthur,” Gwen hummed.

Arthur just huffed and looked down at his tray of food, as Morgana slid onto the bench next to him. “Why don’t you get us some drinks?” She said, turning to him. He looked at her with a scary, heated glower, but Morgana just stared him down until he stood to retrieve drinks.

”Sorry about him, he’ll warm up soon enough,” she commented, shaking her head. 

Arthur returned with soda cans soon enough, he placed one in front of Merlin, muttering a soft, “here,” before moving on.

”Thank you,” Merlin replied, attempting to sound as genuine as possible. He received a passive glance in return. He held back a scoff, instead resorting to cracking open the cold can. 

The table fell into casual discussion, both Arthur and Merlin staying silent.

* * *

On Merlin’s last day of the week disaster struck. Well, in his opinion at least. He was assigned a group project in english. He had no friends in the class, and for a moment, anxiously scanned to see if anyone else was in the same situation as he was. Unfortunately, he came to the conclusion that he was alone, as he watched every other student start sending looks towards their friends as a signal to work together. He sighed, resigned to asking the teacher if he could just work alone.

”I’ve decided I’ll be picking the partners,” the teacher said, “I set up the pairs last night, choosing who I thought would work well together, based off of how you’ve been doing the past work.” They started handing out papers, “It might be wise to set up some time on the weekend or after school to work together.”

Once they reached Merlin’s desk, his heart dropped. 

_Arthur_ , was scrawled boldly next to his name, and he looked up to see Arthur glaring at the paper in his hand with the same expression that Merlin had. Once Arthur looked up to meet his gaze, he gave Arthur an unsure grin. Arthur rolled his eyes, and stood up.

”Let’s get this over with, then,” he growled out, dragging a chair over to Merlin’s desk with him. 

In an awkward silence, they read over their assignment. They only managed a few moments of work before getting frustrated with each other. 

"Maybe if you were less _incompetent_ , this wouldn't be so hard," Arthur snarked.

Merlin scoffed, "You're- you're so, ugh-" 

"You know what, you do _this_ ," Arthur interrupted, annoyance and frustration tinting his voice, pointing at the bottom half of the page, "and I'll do _this_." He pointed at the top half.

" _Fine_ ," Merlin snapped.

Jerking his paper out of Arthur's grip, he turned away, the pair resigning themselves to their designated work.

* * *

A gentle vibration from his phone brought Merlin out of his thoughts. He and Arthur had done their best to split up the assignment, making it so they barely had to interact, but it was harder than he thought. There was a reason the teacher made the assignment a two man job.

He picked up his phone, which was lit up. An unknown number had sent him a text.

_> hey, it’s arthur. i got your number from gwen. we should meet up for this assignment. we’ll probably get a better mark._

Merlin stared at it for a moment, mildly surprised. He certainly hadn’t suspected Arthur, one of the most stubborn, hard-headed people he’d come across so far, to give into working with him that easily.

 _> sure. we can work at my house, if you want? _He replied, almost too quickly. He panicked for a moment. Did he seem desperate or something? No, he just didn’t want Arthur to get pissy with him for taking too long to reply. Yeah, that was it.

_> fine. what time?_

Merlin told him to come at five, giving him a little bit of time to clean up around the house a little bit. He wasn’t sure why he was doing it, but he told himself it was so that Arthur wouldn’t be an asshole about the state of his house. He also showered, wore something new and clean, brushed his teeth and made his bed for the first time since he moved in.

But... no, it was _only_ to avoid Arthur’s obnoxious pestering.

At exactly 4:59, his doorbell rang. Merlin skipped down the stairs, pausing to unconsciously adjust certain things on the walls or sitting on shelves. Gaius, who was sitting on the couch in the living room, scoffed lightly and earned himself a mild glare from Merlin.

He swung open the door, not before smoothing down his hoodie of course, to reveal Arthur. He had his backpack hanging from one shoulder, and stood awkwardly on the step for a moment.

"Hey, uh- come in?" Merlin opened the door a bit wider and gestured inwards.

"Thanks..." 

Merlin led him up the stairs and to his room, closing the door once they were both inside. "This is, uh... cozy," Arthur muttered. Merlin's eyes narrowed at the implication behind his words, but didn't say anything, as Arthur seemed to have meant it as genuinely as he could.

"I guess we should start," Merlin said. Arthur only nodded as Merlin gestured for him to sit down. 

The pair began, pulling out what they had done so far and reviewing it with each other. The silence wasn't as tense as it had been before, and felt natural, which would be surprising to Merlin if he had noticed. There was only the soft sound of pens and pencils scratching on paper, and they occasionally spoke up, asking for a suggestion or checking to see if what they'd written seemed correct. 

A few times, Merlin glanced up to see Arthur gazing at him, before snapping his head back down once he realized he'd been caught. Merlin simply blinked at this, and also attempted to keep his eyes glued to his paper. It was difficult, though, when it was so easy to get distracted by the soft golden of Arthur's hair that shimmered under the light above their heads. Or when he caught Arthur's eye, and saw that twinkle again.

After a while of consistent work, the pair got stuck. Arthur was far more distraught about it than Merlin, who was attempting to keep his cool despite both of their frustration.

Arthur slammed his pencil down on the bed, and buried his face in his hands. "If I can't finish this I'm _screwed_ ," he growled, an edge of anxiety creeping into his words as he voiced his annoyance.

"What do you mean?"

"My father..." he paused for a moment. Merlin felt like turning away as the silence continued, like he shouldn't be hearing Arthur talk about this. "I don't know, he just- he expects a lot from me. Morgana as well, but me more so," he replied, letting out a deep sigh. He picked his hand up, running a hand through his hair. Merlin tried to ignore the flutter in his stomach at the action. "If I don't a good mark in this class..." He trailed off, and seemed to deflate after that. Merlin placed a hand on his shoulder, as an attempt to comfort him.

He noticed how Arthur's strong shoulder was warm underneath his palm.

"We'll finish this, and we'll do a good job, okay? You're not doing this project alone," he joked. Merlin pulled away after he felt his hand lingered for a moment too long.

Arthur glanced back at him. "Yeah. Thanks, Merlin." 

Merlin just nodded in reply, sitting back down next to him on his bed and pulling his binder closer to him. "Let's brainstorm a bit."

It was a while before they had what Arthur considered an adequate amount of work done. Merlin hadn't even realized it was so late, when he checked his phone to see it was 9:00. He flopped down onto his bed. They weren't done yet, but there was only a small amount of work left, which they decided they could do separately. As he laid there for a moment, his mind wandered, thinking about how working with Arthur wasn't as bad as he'd anticipated. Morgana was right, it just took Arthur a bit to warm up to him, and it took Merlin a bit to realize he wasn't actually a bad guy. He just had a few walls up.

He decided to voice his thoughts. "You know, you're not nearly as arrogant as I thought you were." 

Arthur snorted, looking at him over his shoulder. "Thanks." He too took a moment to rest on the bed, falling back against the soft mattress. They rested there in silence for a moment, before Arthur turned to look at him. Nothing was said as they made brief eye contact. Arthur's eyes flicked to Merlin's lips for a moment. He gazed at them, and in turn, Merlin's turned to Arthur's. They looked _soft_ , and were a light pink colour.

Merlin wanted to lean in and just- 

"I think I should go," Arthur interrupted, sitting upright. Merlin followed quickly, heart pounding against his ribcage. He wanted to face-palm. Even though nothing embarrassing actually happened, he couldn't help but feel it had. He'd foolishly thought, even for a brief second, that Arthur was thinking about kissing _him_. He cringed thinking about what would've happened had he actually leaned in and kissed him.

Merlin's face flushed a bit, and he had to turn away in an attempt to make sure Arthur didn't see.

"Yeah, probably." 

When he turned to look at Arthur, he seemed distraught again, eyes downcast and face pale. He recovered quickly once he realized Merlin was watching him. Arthur silently started gathering his things back up, placing them into his bag. Merlin stood after a moment of silence and awkwardly lead Arthur out of the room and back to the front door.

Merlin opened the door for him. "I'll, uh, see you later, I guess." Arthur nodded. 

"Yeah. Bye." 

The door closed, as Arthur turned to walk down the front steps of the house. Merlin rubbed his hands down his face, and groaned.

He turned to glare at Gaius once again, when he heard soft chuckling to his right.

* * *

On Monday at lunch, the table was once again bustling with activity. It seemed Morgana and Gwen had made it there first this time and they loudly greeted him as he approached the table. Merlin flushed once he realized the only open spot at the table was next to Arthur, and awkwardly shuffled in next to him.

Arthur simply nodded to him, before placing a soda can in front of him.

"Oh, thanks," he said. When he looked up, he caught Gwaine's gaze, who gave him a knowing look. Merlin glanced away, pretending he hadn't seen Gwaine's expression. He couldn't help but blush harder when he became painfully aware of Arthur's leg pressed up against his, and his shoulder casually bumping into him, a consequence of having to sit at a high school lunch table.

"No problem."

Percival and Leon, who he'd been introduced to on Friday, groaned as Gwaine forced everyone on the bench to make room so he could squish in beside Merlin. Gwaine only chuckled, before once again draping a casual arm over Merlin's shoulders. Arthur's head snapped back towards them at the disturbance, and his eyes narrowed after landing on Gwaine's arm.

" _Gwaine,_ " he warned. Merlin obliviously assumed Arthur was pissed because of Gwaine pushing everyone else down the bench. Gwaine smirked in reply, before lifting his arm off discretely.

" _Sorry_ , princess." 

Arthur reached behind Merlin to land a rough punch to Gwaine's arm, resulting in the rest of the table to explode with laughter. The table dissolved back into casual conversations, split up amongst everyone around the table, before Morgana caught the attention of everyone.

"Is everyone coming to the party on Friday? Remember, I've been working on this for a while. If you don't come I'll be insulted," she joked, but there was a serious undertone to her words. 

"Of _course_ , we're all coming, Morgana," Gwen said, before turning to Merlin, "right?" 

Merlin sighed. It wasn't that he didn't want to hang out with them, but he wasn't sure what to expect of a party here. Would it be big? Loud? Or was it just a "party," made up of the few people he'd already been introduced to. 

"Come on, Merlin," Arthur interrupted. "Everyone else is going. You can't be _that_ boring, can you?"

Merlin glared at him, but his gaze softened when he turned back to Morgana. "Fine, I'll be there."

The occupants of the table cheered at his statement, and he grinned a little bit. He caught Arthur's gaze. His blue eyes sparkled softly, and he was casting a perfect white smile at him. Merlin's own grin widened a little bit.

He was starting to actually feel welcome at this school.

* * *

The rest of the week passed by without incident. His classes went exceptionally smoothly and every lunch was spent with his newfound friends. Before he knew it, it was the night of the party, and Gwen offered to give him a ride to Arthur and Morgana's house. He wasn't sure why, but the entire day and ride over, his stomach was in knots. The past week, he'd spent a good chunk of his time gazing at Arthur in english, and at lunch, without even realizing he was doing it until he got caught. Usually by Gwaine or Gwen.

When they arrived, Gwen dragged Merlin in through the front door of the grand house. The big entrance was decorated with fancy lights, casting a gentle golden glow on them as they walked through. Almost immediately, they were assaulted with loud music, jeers from the crowd, and had people pushing them to the side in order to get into the house.

"Let's get something to drink!" She yelled over the crowd and music, dragging him over to the drinks table. She poured up a couple of cups for themselves. The concoction seemed innocent and was a classic red punch color. Merlin wasn't so naïve though and suspected there was more to it. Especially considering the behavior of some of the people surrounding them.

Merlin brought his cup up to his mouth, choking on the drink as Gwaine suddenly appeared behind him, cheering and landing a slap on his back. He had his own bottle of something suspicious, half-finished. Gwen sighed at the sight.

"Merlin!" He crowed out, before taking a dramatic swig from the bottle. Merlin turned to him.

"Hi, Gwaine," he coughed, still struggling to recover. He paused to take quick surveillance of the room, unconsciously scanning for a familiar face. When he looked back to Gwaine, he was smirking.

"Looking for Arthur?" He teased. Merlin choked once again on his drink, face lighting up red.

"What? _No,_ of course not," he spluttered out, putting his drink down. "Why would I be?" He attempted to mimic an innocent and confused look, but knew deep down Gwaine already knew him too well for that.

"Oh, I know you're a bit smitten with him, aren't you? Despite my attempts, Arthur won you over, didn't he, little bird?" Gwaine didn't sound or look nearly upset as his words might have implied. Merlin scoffed, looking away with his cheeks still pink. Once he did, he realized Gwen had abandoned him. He sighed.

Gwaine laughed. “Have some fun with me, eh?” Before Merlin could deny his request, Gwaine grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him into the crowd of people. Merlin couldn’t help but let out a breathy laugh as Gwaine forced him to dance to the overplayed pop song blasting throughout the house. 

Gwaine spent so long spinning him around, Merlin almost forgot completely about Arthur, but his eyes still casually scanned the room every few minutes. By the time Gwaine let him go, he was light-headed and dizzy. He stumbled backwards, and would have fallen over had he not bumped directly into someone else’s firm chest. Before he could turn to apologize, a hand wrapped around his wrist and spun him around. 

“Oh, Arthur.” The blonde boy looked over at Gwaine, jaw tight and brow furrowed. “What’s wrong?” He asked. Gwaine laughed, and started to walk away.

Merlin thought he caught a faint, _don’t be jealous, Arthur_ , as he left their vicinity, but he couldn’t be sure. Arthur shook his head, looking back to Merlin. 

“Are you having a good time?” He asked, awkwardly glancing down at his grip on Merlin’s wrist before letting go. 

“Yeah, I am. Thanks.” They stood in silence for a moment, Arthur’s eyes raked from Merlin’s face down to his body. 

“Do you- Uh...” Arthur started, but he paused quickly. 

“Yeah?” Merlin prompted, smirking a bit.

Arthur glared down again him. “Nevermind. It’s nothing.”

”Are you sure? It seemed like something,” Merlin teased. Arthur’s glare sharpened.

”I said it’s nothing, moron,” Arthur snapped.

Merlin kept smirking, but gave in. “Alright, alright.” He held his hands up innocently.

Arthur’s glare softened. “You want some water or something?” He asked, gesturing towards the almost empty kitchen. Merlin nodded, letting Arthur lead him into the other room. As they entered, the few who occupied the room filtered out, leaving the pair alone in the kitchen. 

Arthur pulled out a glass, while Merlin appreciated how much quieter it was in the kitchen. He looked up at the twinkling lights in the dim kitchen, while Arthur filled the glass up with cold water. Their fingers brushed as Arthur handed the water to Merlin. His heart fluttered lightly, and when he looked at Arthur he noticed his eyes were downcast, and he shifted awkwardly. 

Merlin obscured a small grin by taking a sip of the water. 

“Alright,” Arthur stated. "I've, uh, been wanting to ask you something..." Merlin raised his eyebrows expectantly, as he took another sip of water. Arthur's expression quickly changed from unsure to confident in the space of a few seconds.

After taking a deep sigh Arthur moved closer, causing Merlin's heart to pound against his ribs, and said, "Can I kiss you?”

For about the third time that night, Merlin choked as he processed the words that came out of Arthur’s mouth. Once he recovered, all he could manage was a shaky nod.

It seemed like only moments because Arthur inched even closer, gently taking the glass out of Merlin’s hand, before he rested his palm on the side of Merlin’s jaw and leaned in. He hesitated.

Merlin quickly closed the gap, not wanting the almost tender moment to pass. Arthur’s lips were warm, soft and experienced. Merlin let him take control at first, getting used to the feeling of kissing someone. Of kissing Arthur. Arthur’s warm hand slowly travelled from the side of Merlin’s face upwards to cup the back of his head, gently but firmly pressing him closer. Merlin let him do it, savouring the feeling of Arthur’s chest under his palms as he brought them to rest upon the other’s body.

Merlin pulled away suddenly. “Arthur, I-“ Merlin wasn’t sure what he was going to say, but whatever it was was cut off by Arthur leaning in again. Merlin was dragged back under the waves of Arthur’s warmth and lost his vague train of thought as he was tugged close once again. He distantly thought about how his body felt like putty within Arthur’s grip.

His hip bumped up against the counter as Arthur dragged him out of the kitchen and down a dark, tucked away part of the house. Where their private actions would go unnoticed and uninterrupted.

”Arthur-“ he tried to get words in between the kisses, before Arthur pulled away and started leaving a trail down his neck and shoulder. “Arthur, wh-“

“ _Mer_ lin, for God’s sake. No one’s ever told you to shut up, have they?” Arthur snarked, pressing Merlin against the wall with his own body. Arthur nudged his thigh between Merlin’s slender legs, effectively trapping him against the wall in the secluded hallway of the large house. Despite his ‘protests,’ Merlin’s hands snaked around Arthur’s neck, feeling the taught muscles from years of playing rugby. Merlin’s unintentional eagerness only egged Arthur oh.

”Make me shut up, then,” Merlin snapped back, burying slender fingers in Arthur’s golden hair. He tugged, and Arthur involuntarily let out a groan, before capturing Merlin’s mouth in his own once again. Merlin whimpered as Arthur’s big hands travelled up Merlin’s shirt, fingers raking over his bare ribs, before travelling down to his hips. 

Merlin whimpered when Arthur stopped, and pulled away. Standing in the dark hallway in the house, he stared back in the direction of the party. His hands still absentmindedly rubbed up and down Merlin’s sides, before he looked back down at him. Merlin gasped when Arthur’s hooded and heavy eyes gazed down at him. 

“Why don’t we get out of here?” Arthur asked, voice gravely.

Merlin blushed, looked up into his eyes, and nodded.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhhh thanks for reading. this is the first thing i've completed in years, even though its really short. i'll might come back to edit this later, but i'm just gonna upload what i've got now. comments are greatly appreciated.
> 
> please let me know if there are any mistakes. (not to be cocky but) i'm quite good at managing grammar and spelling errors, but my computer does this goofy thing where it randomly repeats pieces of words for no reason and sometimes it goes unnoticed.
> 
> btw, feel free to leave any merthur fit ideas for the future.


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